Infrastructure first focus of FEMA

Office opens next month

Office opens next month

May 30, 2007|By Scott Waltman, American News Writer

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will open a local office next month to start looking at public infrastructure damage. Scott Meints, Brown County Emergency Management director, told Brown County commissioners on Tuesday that the tentative date for office opening is June 11. That's when a FEMA inspection team will start to look at damage to roads, bridges, parks and other government-owned lands, property and structures. A public infrastructure damage total is not yet known, said Meints and Ricardo Zu–iga, a public information officer for FEMA now working in Aberdeen. Commissioners Tuesday approved a measure naming Meints as the primary contact for FEMA officials who have questions about public damage. Dirk Rogers, Brown County highway superintendent, is the secondary contact. The commission also approved an agreement with South Dakota Emergency Management setting forth how the amount of damage will be determined. Meints said FEMA is also continuing to help people who have suffered personal property damage. Residents who have had any damage at all should register with FEMA and the Small Business Administration at the Washington Street Gym in Aberdeen, he said. Through Monday night, Zu–iga said, 1,347 people had registered at the disaster response centers in eastern South Dakota. FEMA has approved $1.57 million in damages, Zu–iga said. The state opened the centers nearly two days before FEMA officials arrived. Since the center opened May 21, 1,347 people have registered at the Washington Street Gym, Zu–iga said. Even people who don't think they have any damage or who don't think they incurred enough damage to get public help should still take time to register, he said. “Nobody says you have to take (the help available), but it's always nice to have it in your back pocket,” Zu–iga said. The deadline to register for FEMA and other assistance programs is 60 days after a disaster declaration is issued. The declaration was issued May 23.